Thursday, January 28, 2010

Apparently there have been screenings of "When in Rome" for about two months now—my alma mater, the University of Michigan, had a screening back in November. There was also a screening in mid-December in Birmingham, MI that I could have gone to, but we chose to see "Brothers" that night instead—which, having seen "When in Rome," turned out to be a very good choice.

I love action movies. I also love movies where you have to think about the plot. “Edge of Darkness” combines the two in a thrilling story of conspiracy, lies, and cover-up. Though it’s essentially about the little guy uncovering a larger conspiracy, “Edge of Darkness” is fresh and innovative.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Yes, we realize that Avatar has been playing since December 18, so we're a little late with our review. That being said, the film has created a wave of hype and criticism, plus won several awards, so we decided to review it anyway.

Way back in mid-December, my family and I had screening passes for three different movies on the same night: "Up in the Air," "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" and "Avatar". We chose to see "Up in the Air," which ended up being a great movie. I forgot about "Avatar" until it came out, and it was then that practically everyone on my Facebook news feed posted either "OMG AVATAR!!! GO SEE IT! IT'S RIDICULOUSLY GOOD!" or "Avatar is just a revamped Pocahontas." Moreover, "Avatar" won a Golden Globe for best Drama last week, further piquing my interest. So when a friend of mine wanted to see a movie this past weekend, I suggested "Avatar."

Thursday, January 21, 2010

We covered neither the recent Golden Globes awards ceremony nor the ongoing disaster in Haiti, but here's some news that combines the two. Chrysler CEO Olivier Francois arrived at the ceremony in a Chrysler 300C, which was signed by celebrities and will be auctioned for charity. The auction proceeds are expected to reach close to $1 million and will be directed to relief efforts in Haiti.

Signatures include those of Tina Fey, Tom Hanks, and about 298 other celebs.

“Fish Tank” won the Jury Prize at last summer’s Cannes Film Festival and was widely released in Britain. It’s now available on DVD overseas, and has recently been released to a limited number of theaters in the U.S. It might be tough for American moviegoers to see “Fish Tank”, but those who do won’t regret it.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

I try to avoid comparing a movie to its book counterpart, because sometimes both are equally good standing on their own (ie. the Harry Potter movies vs. the books), but with "The Lovely Bones" it was unavoidable—I had just read the novel a few weeks ago, and that was the reason I was so excited to see the movie. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in the movie version.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Should I stay or should I go? That’s the longstanding question facing moviegoers watching exceptionally long films—Benjamin Button springs to mind. But you don’t want to miss a crucial plot twist, joke, or action scene. That’s where RunPee.com aims to help.

Friday, January 15, 2010

In "The Book of Eli," Denzel Washington walks the post-apocalyptic Earth as a man with a mission: he has the last copy of the Holy Bible, and a voice in his head has told him to "go West." Sounds fairly straightforward, but "Eli" actually has many more layers that eventually unfold. It had been thirty years since "the War" and a meteorite ravaged the Earth, and Eli has been walking ever since. He has his backpack, a machete-like sword, and his iPod—the battery has miraculously lasted thirty years—and that's basically all he needs. Water and food are scarce, so Eli tries to find it wherever he can; he runs into trouble, however, when he enters the makeshift town made by Carnegie (Gary Oldman). Carnegie sends his henchmen to find books for him, which have become so rare that only the "elders" remember how to read. He's looking for one specific book—Eli's Bible—because Carnegie believes that he can "control" people even more if he is in possession of this book (a not-so-subtle dig at religion). When Eli and Carnegie meet, Carnegie realizes he has the book he's looking for, and when Eli leaves town the next day, the hunt is on.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

"Leap Year" revolves around a woman, Anna (Amy Adams), who plans to fly to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day, February 29th. She had been waiting for him to propose to her before he left on a business trip to Ireland, but instead he gives her a pair of diamond earrings. Anna decides to take things into her own hands and fly to Ireland to surprise her boyfriend. She hears about the Leap Year tradition through her father, whose mother had proposed to his father on a Leap Year in Ireland; according to Irish lore, a woman is "allowed" to propose to a man on a Leap Day. Although she originally dismisses it as a stupid tradition, Anna becomes desperate and ends up doing the exact same thing. When she arrives in Ireland no flights are operating due to the weather, and she meets a man (Matthew Goode) who agrees to drive her to Dublin. And that's when things get complicated!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

"Youth in Revolt" is about Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), a boy who has basically no experience with girls, who is looking to lose his virginity. When he goes on vacation to a trailer park with his mom and his mom's current loser boyfriend, Nick meets Sheeni Saunders, with whom he immediately falls in love. When it's time for him and his family to return home, however, he can't bear to leave Sheeni; they hatch a plan so that Nick's dad will move near where Sheeni lives, and Nick will get himself kicked out of his house and move in with his dad. To do this, he creates an alternate persona for himself—"Francois Dillinger"—and Francois is a much "darker" side of Nick.